St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright was dominant Saturday and shortstop Pete Kozma provided all the offense St. Louis would need in a 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins.

Wainwright, who was shaky in his previous outing, allowed three hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six. The safeties were the only hits allowed by the Redbirds until the ninth inning when second year pro Michael allowed one Marlin to reach on a wind-blown pop-up and another on a flair before slamming the door for a two-inning save. Wacha struck out two to bring his spring total to 13 and walked none.

In 9 2/3 innings of work this spring, Wacha hasn't allowed a run. He continues to be used liberally. I wouldn't have believed at the beginning of spring training that Wacha, who only pitched in a handful of professional games last season after St. Louis drafted him in the first round out of Texas A&M.

But it sure looks like he's getting a healthy shot. Ultimately, I still believe that the Cardinals will send Wacha to Class AA Springfield or possible Class AAA Memphis at least for a while. But it's pretty exciting that Wacha is already wowing the front office and coaching staff.

In the course of a couple of weeks, Wacha has added what appears to be a pretty effective curveball to his arsenal of a good fastball and a wicked change-up. He doesn't appear to need much polishing. But, then again, is it better for him to sit in the major league bullpen to to pitch in the rotation every five days in the high minors?

Wacha will likely be called up to the big leagues if and when there is an injury or two to the pitching staff later in the year.

Both of Kozma's RBIs came on a two-run double in the fourth inning. The hit left him with a .419 batting average for the spring campaign.